In a season mired by injuries, losing and a mini fire sale, the final piece to an unsuccessful season was inserted into the puzzle. With that streak ending the Phillies dropped one to the Braves, 5-1, in a total miserable showing that represented the season.

Starting with Vance Worley, it all went down hill. Worley, who has been pitching with a bone chip in his right elbow, couldn’t get out of the 4th inning.

Worley was awful, allowing four runs on six hits and three walks while striking out two in only 3 2/3 innings. Worley threw 74 pitches, only 45 for strikes.

ATLANTA — Brian McCann has played in six games against the Phillies. McCann has also homered in all six games against the Phillies.

A three-run blast in the 5th inning gave the Braves a commanding 5-1 lead, enabling starter Ben Sheets to cruise to his third win of the season. The Braves won, 6-1, snapping the Phillies’ four-game winning streak.

Cole Hamels was horrible in his first start since being extended by the Phillies. He gave up a career-high six walks as well as threw more balls (56) than strikes (53).

His accuracy was an issue early, and it wasn’t until McCann smacked a three-run shot that the control issues became a big problem. Hamels was done after five, allowing five runs, three earned, on four hits and six walks while striking out seven.

Nix, who recently returned from a DL stint that kept him out of the lineup with a calf strain since May 10, has been crushing the ball when he is healthy. Nix is hitting .320 (16-for-50) with six doubles, two home runs and 11 RBIs in 26 games.

“Nix is a good piece to put up there in a big situation in the game,” Manuel said. “But he also has to play enough to stay sharp.”

Of all the problems the Phillies have been having this season, starting pitching (or pitching in general) has thrown itself to the top of the list.

With Roy Halladay out for at least two more months and the rest of the staff struggling (even Cole Hamels), the Phillies are looking for a temporary fix in the rotation.

According to MLB Trade Rumors, free agent Ben Sheets is on their radar.

Yesterday, Sheets threw a bullpen session for scouts in Monroe, Louisiana. The teams represented by scouts were the Phillies, Braves, Yankees and Angels.

More from MLBTR, who said that the 33-year-old Sheets had three surgeries on his elbow since 2009:

Word is that Sheets didn’t want to return to baseball unless he felt 100%, and he’d like to help a team down the stretch. Assuming he flashes his old form in throwing sessions, Sheets will be a popular free agent this summer.

In 241 career starts, Sheets is 90-92 with a 3.79 ERA. He hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2010.

The Phillies and Jose Contreras have reportedly agreed to a one-year deal according to Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes. The 38-year old Cuban made 28 appearances last season for the White Sox and Rockies, 23 of them were starts. He went 6-13 with a 4.92 ERA in 131.2 innings pitched.

This is just another low-risk, high reward move that Ruben Amaro, Jr. made. Contreras will have a similar role to Chan Ho Park last year. He will compete with Jamie Moyer and Kyle Kendrick for the fifth spot in the rotation and if he loses, he could be a valuable and experience right arm in the pen.

You can qualify this as a “MNG” segment as well seeing as you now know everything you need to know about him. This move should also rule out Ben Sheets.